FEATURE: Moulettes – Bunch Of Fives

Five creatures to surprise & delight : the strange preternatural beasties that blur the lines between fact and the fantastical

By NARC.
on Monday, December 11th, 2017

It’s from ecclectic art rockers Moulettes who have announced an extensive UK/Irish jaunt throughout Decemeber encompassing 18 shows and bringing a rapturous conclusion to their two-year Preternatural tour which has taken the group across Europe and Canada. The band will be performing at The Cluny, Newcastle on Friday 15th December.

Before that though, we caught up with them to find out five creatures to surprise & delight : the strange preternatural beasties that blur the lines between fact and the fantastical. With answers by Hannah Miller. Over to you Hannah…

They demonstrate resilience, adaptability, metamorphosis, and the infinite potential of nature to surprise and enchant. Some of them inspired tracks from our fourth record Preternatural, some of them still need their own theme songs, but these are 5 of my all time favourites.

Tardigrade – AKA Moss Piglet, Water Bear
Everyone’s favourite extremophile- the word comes from ‘Tardigrada’ meaning «slowsteppers» and they are found everywhere, and can survive all manner of hostile environments Including the vacuum of outer Space, and areas of concentrated radiation. I like the way they look like an inquisitive hoover-bag.

Halicephalobus Mephisto Nematode Worm
Inspired Moulettes track – Hidden World
The inspirational starting point for ‘Preternatural’, The so-called devil’s worm was discovered much deeper underground than any other organism so far- suggesting that other subterranean life forms might well be lurking on our Earth, and other planets. It can survive extreme heat and pressure, and doesn’t requite oxygen or sunlight. A jubilant looking monster, worthy of Pan’s Labyrinth.

Turritopsis dohrnii – The Immortal Jellyfish
Inspired Moulettes track – ‘Medusa’
One of the only known organisms that can capable of reverting back to their infant ‘Polyp’ stage after having reached sexually mature adult-hood, when they are known as a ‘Medusa’. Highly adaptable, their ability to heal themselves by reverting to a polyp has resulted in a so-called «silent invasion» as they colonise more and more regions of the worlds oceans.

Asian Sheepshead Wrasse
A more recent favourite of mine, as seen on Planet Earth 2 , this Wrasse is able to undergo sequential hermaphroditism, and changes sex from a female to a male several years after she has matured. Another astonishing example of metamorphosis in the animal kingdom.

Octopus ( Acceptably Pluralised as Octopuses, Octopodes, & Octopi)
Inspired Moulettes track- UnderWaterPainter
The mighty and miraculous Octopus: 3 hearts, alien levels of complexity demonstrated by their DNA, copper in their blood rather than Iron, 8 arms that ‘taste’ and wield immense strength… highly sophisticated and cunning, houdini-like escape capabilities, Psychedelic light shows; Octopuses have it all. Of all the possible apocalypse scenarios, My hope is for an Octopus Empire; a new dawn of aquatic overlords.